


game

by ghosthunter



Series: sweat, saltwater, surfboard wax [4]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fraternity, Alternate Universe - Surfers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-26 07:57:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12054657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghosthunter/pseuds/ghosthunter
Summary: “Stop making out with Andre in the storage room."





	game

**Author's Note:**

> idk someone asked about tom and burky in this 'verse so i was like yeah sure why not and you know how once you're like, out, you have a group of friends and you realize you don't know any straight people? yeah.
> 
> thanks to donya for cheerleading and lanie for beta like usual sorry i'm like this guys thanks for loving me anyway

Tom doesn’t really mean to end up following John out to the surf shop but he was hanging around the house anyway, and when John said he was probably going surfing, Tom thought - hey, why not. John didn’t tell him _not_ to come or act like he didn’t want a freeloader.

It’s not like Tom knows how to fucking surf, or anything, but he’s bored, and he likes the beach, so even if he’s not actually surfing he can hang out. Either way, he ends up at the surf shop, where apparently John’s boyfriend works. John’s boyfriend who isn’t even at the shop, so why are they there?

Tom forgets that he’s even thinking about that when he sees the kid behind the counter.

It’s not like Tom is, like, gay or whatever. Tom is into attractive people, and the kid behind the counter, with his blue eyes and curly hair, is definitely attractive. He’s tall and tanned and Tom isn’t the type to turn into a blubbering mess, but he feels like if he were, this guy would turn him into a blubbering mess.

At least Tom is smoother than that.

Tom knows that TJ works there too and that’s why they’re there, but since he teaches lessons, he’s probably out on the beach. Working.

Andre’s working, too, but it seems like he wasn’t expecting anyone else to be in the shop, so he’s sitting behind the counter looking bored as the other guy working - Nick. Tom knows Nick, because he’s been at parties at the house because he’s friends with TJ and John - stocks shelves. Not a lot of people come in and out, which makes sense, because it’s a weekday and people are either working or in class. Those that do come in, Andre checks in and moves them through the paperwork for the surfing lessons that TJ’s giving, locking their passports or driver’s licenses into the till.

Tom leans against the counter. “So,” he says. “Are you going to school here, too?”

“Yeah,” Andre says. He’s not making eye contact with Tom, even though he’s also not really doing anything else.

“Cool,” Tom says. “What are you studying?”

“I haven’t decided,” Andre says. “This is my first semester, you know?”

“Sure,” Tom says. “I haven’t decided either. Like, my dad wants me to do like, business but that’s so boring, you know?”

Andre opens his mouth to respond, but instead an older man sweeps into the shop, stopping just inside the door and taking stock of what’s going on. There’s Andre, sitting behind the counter, and Tom leaning against it talking to Andre. Nick is in the back with a box open, stacking items onto a shelf. John’s sitting on the edge of a display table, playing with his phone.

“Carlson,” the guy says. “Teach the kid how to clean and wax boards if he’s gonna be in here taking up my kids’ time.”

For a second, Tom’s not sure who he’s referring to, but then Tom realizes the guy means _him_ , which is about the time John starts nudging him away from the counter and back toward the back of the store.

“Was that the manager?” Tom asks, once they’re in the back storage room, where the rental surf boards are stacked.

“No, he’s the owner. Nick’s the manager,” John says.

He’s barely gotten started showing Tom how to strip and re-wax boards when Andre comes in. “Nick sent me back to help,” he says, and then walks over to where Tom is working on a board under John’s supervision to help.

 

 

Nick pops his head in to let them know that he’s leaving, and Andre shuffles back out front to take over at the desk. Tom’s getting a little better at stripping old wax off by this time, and he thinks he’s positively great at it by the time TJ comes into the room and stops John from working by sticking his tongue down John’s throat.

“Don’t mind me,” Tom says, rolling his eyes. He likes both TJ and John, honestly, but he doesn’t want to watch anyone making out. He is the one who wants to be making out, thanks.

John pulls away from TJ long enough to say “you should go,” and Tom does.

Since he rode in with John, he can’t actually leave, so he wanders out to where Andre is sitting behind the counter again. “Hey,” he says, lifting himself up to sit down on the counter next to Andre. Andre’s sitting on a stool behind the counter, and he looks up at Tom.

“They’re not allowed to make out in there,” Andre says, frowning. “Barry’s rules.”

“Are you gonna go tell them to stop?” Tom asks.

“No,” Andre says. They’re quiet for a couple of moments.

“Where’s your accent from?” Tom finally asks. It’s cute.

“Huh?” Andre says, then, “oh. Swedish. I’m Swedish.”

“Ohhh, like Nick and Marcus,” Tom says.

“You know them, too?” Andre asks.

“They come to the house a lot, because they’re friends with TJ and John,” Tom says.

“What about TJ and John?” TJ asks. He and John come out of the back room, John’s hair messy and both their mouths red. Tom narrowly resists rolling his eyes, and looks back at Andre.

“Oh, we were talking about how Nick comes out to the house because he’s friends with you guys,” Andre says.

“He does,” TJ says. “But not lately, because he’s gotta stay up Alex’s ass until he goes back to Russia.” John snorts, then TJ realizes what he’s said and starts laughing. Andre makes a face.

“Anyway, we’re heading back to the house. You can come back and flirt with Andre on your own time,” John says. He’s got TJ’s hand in his and they’re headed toward the door.

“You should come to a party some time,” Tom says to Andre. Andre hums.

“Maybe,” he says, and Tom waves as he follows John and TJ out of the shop.

 

 

Andre shows up at the party when he gets off work, and Tom’s already had a few drinks. Andre looks a little nervous, but almost relieved when Tom - someone he “knows,” more or less - appears and shoves a cup into his hand.

“Thanks,” Andre says.

It turns out, Andre’s kind of an easy drunk, so Tom isn’t getting any more hammered than he already is by the time Andre has downed a couple of cups. TJ swoops in on them and tries to get Andre to play beer pong - but it’s clear that he’s paired up with Marcus, who’s dragged Nick in, and they’re looking to hustle pledges and freshmen, so Tom warns Andre off.

“I don’t even know how to play beer pong,” Andre says, shaking his head.

“Then you _definitely_ don’t want to play them,” Tom says. “They should ban both Nick and Marcus from playing, they’re monsters.”

Andre laughs. He has a cute laugh.

“Do you want to go out sometime?” Tom blurts out suddenly. It’s less smooth than he normally likes to think that he is.

Andre looks a little bit startled. “I,” he says, and Tom’s sure he’s really fucking overstepped, because sure, he doesn’t know Andre, but he invited him to the party and he thought maybe there was a chance, and - “Um. Sure?”

“Like a date,” Tom clarifies.

“Yeah,” Andre says. “Yeah, sure.”

Tom beams at him.

 

 

They’re not dating. Like, Tom and Andre hang out a lot. They even went and got burgers one night at this place on the boardwalk that John recommended. But they’re not dating. Because Tom is free and easy and enjoying college and all of his potential hookups.

He also doesn’t appreciate all the shit that John keeps giving him when he tags along to the surf shop, and he doesn’t appreciate the glares Nick keeps giving him because he keeps distracting Andre from working. They’re not exactly making out in the back of the shop when Andre’s supposed to be cleaning rental boards, but they’re not exactly _not_.

“You’re not fooling anyone,” TJ tells him one night. He passes his pipe to John, sitting next to him on the steps. “Like, we all know that you and Andre are going in the storage room and making out.”

“What,” Tom asks.

“You. Andre. Waxing dicks not boards,” John says, exhaling a cloud of smoke into TJ’s face. TJ laughs. Tom hates both of them, and he’s blushing besides.

“Please never say that to me again,” Tom says.

“Stop making out with Andre in the storage room, then,” TJ says. He takes the pipe back from John and Tom’s pretty irritated that they’re basically sitting in each other’s laps telling him to not make out with Andre but also they’re not sharing the pipe. “I mean,” he says, before taking a drag. “Nick’s literally going to kill you if you keep doing it.”

“I saw him kill a man once,” John says, his voice a lazy drawl as TJ inhales. Tom’s pretty sure that Nick has never killed anyone, but then again, maybe that’s why he’s in America, and not Sweden. “Ask him sometime.”

“No, he won’t talk about it,” TJ says on his exhale. “You have to ask Marcus. He knows all the secrets about Nick’s past.”

“I hate both of you,” Tom says, finally getting up and going back inside.

 

 

They stop making out in the storage room and start making out at the frat house. Andre shows up at parties after he closes the shop, has a couple of drinks and leans hazily into Tom until Tom drags him upstairs. Tom sprawls out on his own bed, and Andre walks over, a plastic cup in his hand. He climbs up onto the bed, settling to straddle Tom’s hips.

“We should go get burgers,” Andre says, lifting his cup and taking a drink. Okay, not what Tom was expecting, but he can work with this.

“Neither of us can drive,” Tom says. He wishes Andre would put his beer down and lean in, instead of talking about food.

“Maybe Carly can drive,” Andre says. Tom’s going to choke him. He’s literally sitting on Tom’s dick and he’s talking about getting someone else to drive him to get a burger.

“There’s no way that Carly’s sober,” Tom says.

“Oh,” Andre says. Then he’s holding his cup in one hand, fumbling into his pocket, his hips moving against Tom’s dick and - is he serious? “I could call Nick. He might come and get us and take us.”

“Andre,” Tom says. “I don’t want to go get burgers.”

“I’m hungry,” Andre says, then finishes his beer. He looks at the cup seriously, then leans forward to put it down on Tom’s nightstand.

“And I’m horny, like, what the fuck are you doing, bro?” Tom says, exasperated. Andre starts laughing, the shit, collapsing over on Tom.

“You never make out with me in the storage room anymore,” Andre says. “I thought maybe you just wanted to be friends.”

“So you followed me to my room and sat on my dick … because you wanted to be friends?” Tom asks.

“Fuck no,” Andre says, and laughs with his head thrown back. “I sat on your dick because I thought maybe if I got you hard you’d let me suck you off.”

Tom’s speechless. He’s spent all this time trying not to be an idiot flirting with Andre, watching Andre blush, and then Andre turns around and pulls this shit? Unbelievable.

“TJ and Carly made me stop making out with you in the storage closet,” Tom says. “They said Nick was gonna kill me.”

“Probably for the best. Nicke’s been in a bad mood since Alex left,” Andre says. He’s sitting up again, but this time Tom’s got his hands resting on Andre’s hips. Andre pulls his shirt up over his head and off, tossing it down on Tom’s bed.

“Like, it’s not like he was going to kill me,” Tom says. Andre laughs, then leans down and presses his mouth to Tom’s.


End file.
